Adam Lazarowicz
Encyclopedia
Major Adam Lazarowicz was a Polish military officer who played a prominent role in the Polish resistance movement
in the German-occupied Poland in the Second World War.
After the war, Lazarowicz remained in hiding and become a member of the anti-Communist organization Wolnosc i Niezawislosc
fighting for Polish independence from Soviet Union. He was imprisoned by the Soviet imposed Communist authorities in Poland and executed on March 1, 1951 in the Mokotów Prison
in Warsaw
.
, Ukraine
) to Franciszek Lazarowicz and Wanda née Ojak.
At the age of 17, Lazarowicz joined the Polish Army, in 1919 he fought the Ukrainians in Volhynia
during the Polish-Ukrainian War
. Then he took part in the Polish-Soviet War
and was wounded during the battle of Ostrołęka. After the conflict, he graduated from a Gymnasium
in Jasło, and later from the History Department of Kraków’s renowned Jagiellonian University
.
Due to an unknown sickness, Lazarowicz was dismissed from the Army and took up the job of a teacher in a school in the village of Gumniska
, a few kilometers from Dębica
. However, he remained in reserve
, and in 1936 was promoted to Colonel.
. Later, he was promoted to commander of Dębica (“Deser”) District of the Home Army (Armia Krajowa) and remained on this post until spring of 1944. He was a skillful organizer, under his leadership the Home Army in Dębica and vicinity thrived and due to his decision, headquarters of the District were moved from dangerous Dębica to the relatively safe village of Gumniska. The Germans never found out about it.
Lazarowicz’s work was highly appreciated by the Regional Command of the Home Army in Rzeszów
. He organized 10 outposts of the organization, in several locations of the Dębica County
(e.g. in Pilzno
and Ropczyce
). Due to his efforts, Dębica District of the Home Army was regarded as the best organized of the whole Rzeszów Command.
In 1943 Lazarowicz was promoted to Captain, then to Major. A year later, together with his men he worked out the German Army firing ground at the village of Blizna, where V-2 rockets were tested (see also Home Army and V1 and V2
). In the spring of 1944 he became inspector deputy of the Rzeszów Inspectorate of the Home Army, and during the Operation Tempest
, he was commander of Dębica’s 5th Mounted Rifles Regiment of the Home Army, which numbered some 1200 soldiers.
In February 1944 Lazarowicz’s men organized an unsuccessful attack on a train carrying Hans Frank
. As a reprisal, the Germans shot 54 Poles, a monument commemorating this event is located by the rail track in Dębica.
, the Soviets awarded Lazarowicz the Red Star Order, as a gesture of appreciation of his efforts. However, he refused to accept it and in February 1945 moved to Rzeszów where he became commander of the Rzeszow District of Wolnosc i Niezawislosc
, an anti-communist Polish underground organization. Later on, Lazarowicz moved to Wrocław, organizing the WiN in these parts. In December 1946 he became deputy of Łukasz Ciepliński.
) in Żnin
on December 5, 1947. After a brutal investigation, he was transported to Warsaw and placed in the Mokotów Prison
. In October 1950, he was sentenced to death. His execution took place on March 1, 1951.
. In 1992, after the collapse of the Communist system, the Military Court of the Warsaw District issued a decree which voided the 1951 sentence
. A memorial plaque
commemorating Lazarowicz can be found on the school in Gumniska
, also since 1993 there has been a street named after him in Dębica
.
Polish resistance movement in World War II
The Polish resistance movement in World War II, with the Home Army at its forefront, was the largest underground resistance in all of Nazi-occupied Europe, covering both German and Soviet zones of occupation. The Polish defence against the Nazi occupation was an important part of the European...
in the German-occupied Poland in the Second World War.
After the war, Lazarowicz remained in hiding and become a member of the anti-Communist organization Wolnosc i Niezawislosc
Wolnosc i Niezawislosc
Zrzeszenie Wolność i Niezawisłość WiN was a Polish underground anti-communist organisation founded on September 2, 1945 and active to 1952....
fighting for Polish independence from Soviet Union. He was imprisoned by the Soviet imposed Communist authorities in Poland and executed on March 1, 1951 in the Mokotów Prison
Mokotów Prison
Mokotów Prison is a prison in Warsaw's borough of Mokotów, Poland, located at Rakowiecka 37 street. It was built by the Russians in the final years of the foreign Partitions of Poland...
in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
.
Early years
Adam was born in 1902 in the village of Berezowica Mała (near Zbaraz, now in Ternopil OblastTernopil Oblast
Ternopil Oblast is an oblast' of Ukraine. Its administrative center is Ternopil, through which flows the Seret River, a tributary of the Dnister.-Geography:...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
) to Franciszek Lazarowicz and Wanda née Ojak.
At the age of 17, Lazarowicz joined the Polish Army, in 1919 he fought the Ukrainians in Volhynia
Volhynia
Volhynia, Volynia, or Volyn is a historic region in western Ukraine located between the rivers Prypiat and Southern Bug River, to the north of Galicia and Podolia; the region is named for the former city of Volyn or Velyn, said to have been located on the Southern Bug River, whose name may come...
during the Polish-Ukrainian War
Polish-Ukrainian War
The Polish–Ukrainian War of 1918 and 1919 was a conflict between the forces of the Second Polish Republic and West Ukrainian People's Republic for the control over Eastern Galicia after the dissolution of Austria-Hungary.-Background:...
. Then he took part in the Polish-Soviet War
Polish-Soviet War
The Polish–Soviet War was an armed conflict between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine and the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic—four states in post–World War I Europe...
and was wounded during the battle of Ostrołęka. After the conflict, he graduated from a Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
in Jasło, and later from the History Department of Kraków’s renowned Jagiellonian University
Jagiellonian University
The Jagiellonian University was established in 1364 by Casimir III the Great in Kazimierz . It is the oldest university in Poland, the second oldest university in Central Europe and one of the oldest universities in the world....
.
Due to an unknown sickness, Lazarowicz was dismissed from the Army and took up the job of a teacher in a school in the village of Gumniska
Gumniska
Gumniska may refer to the following places in Poland:*Gumniska, a district of Tarnów*Gumniska, Subcarpathian Voivodeship *Gumniska, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship...
, a few kilometers from Dębica
Debica
Dębica is a town in southeastern Poland with 46,693 inhabitants, as of 2 June 2009. It is the capital of Dębica County. Since 1999 it has been situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it had previously been in the Tarnów Voivodeship .-Area:...
. However, he remained in reserve
Military reserve
A military reserve, tactical reserve, or strategic reserve is a group of military personnel or units which are initially not committed to a battle by their commander so that they are available to address unforeseen situations or exploit suddenly developing...
, and in 1936 was promoted to Colonel.
1939 Campaign
During the Polish September Campaign Lazarowicz volunteered again, and he became military commandant of the town of Dębica. When Dębica’s garrison withdrew to the east he joined troops fighting Germans in the area of Rawa Ruska. In October 1939, after the hostilities ended, he returned to Gumniska where organized an underground elementary school.Anti-German Resistance
In 1940 Lazarowicz became engaged in the anti-German Sluzba Zwyciestwu Polsce organization, then joined Zwiazek Walki ZbrojnejZwiazek Walki Zbrojnej
Związek Walki Zbrojnej was an underground army formed in Poland following its invasion in September 1939 by Germany and the Soviet Union that opened World War II.The precursor to the ZWZ was the Service...
. Later, he was promoted to commander of Dębica (“Deser”) District of the Home Army (Armia Krajowa) and remained on this post until spring of 1944. He was a skillful organizer, under his leadership the Home Army in Dębica and vicinity thrived and due to his decision, headquarters of the District were moved from dangerous Dębica to the relatively safe village of Gumniska. The Germans never found out about it.
Lazarowicz’s work was highly appreciated by the Regional Command of the Home Army in Rzeszów
Rzeszów
Rzeszów is a city in southeastern Poland with a population of 179,455 in 2010. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River, in the heartland of the Sandomierska Valley...
. He organized 10 outposts of the organization, in several locations of the Dębica County
Debica County
Dębica County is a unit of territorial administration and local government in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, south-eastern Poland. It was created on 1 January 1999 as a result of the Polish local government reforms passed in 1998. Its administrative seat and largest town is Dębica, which lies west...
(e.g. in Pilzno
Pilzno
Pilzno is a town in Poland, in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in Dębica County. It has 4,484 inhabitants . It is located at the junction of important roads - West-East European E40 Highway, and National Road 73 Pilzno is a town in Poland, in Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in Dębica County. It has...
and Ropczyce
Ropczyce
Ropczyce is a town in Subcarpathian Voivodeship in south-eastern Poland, situated in the Valley the Wielopolka River and is inhabited by 15,098 people . It is the seat of Ropczyce-Sędziszów County.-Geography:...
). Due to his efforts, Dębica District of the Home Army was regarded as the best organized of the whole Rzeszów Command.
In 1943 Lazarowicz was promoted to Captain, then to Major. A year later, together with his men he worked out the German Army firing ground at the village of Blizna, where V-2 rockets were tested (see also Home Army and V1 and V2
Home Army and V1 and V2
Aside from the military operations, the Polish Armia Krajowa was also heavily involved in intelligence work, including work done with regard to the German "Wunderwaffe" - the V-1 flying bomb and the V-2 rocket...
). In the spring of 1944 he became inspector deputy of the Rzeszów Inspectorate of the Home Army, and during the Operation Tempest
Operation Tempest
Operation Tempest was a series of uprisings conducted during World War II by the Polish Home Army , the dominant force in the Polish resistance....
, he was commander of Dębica’s 5th Mounted Rifles Regiment of the Home Army, which numbered some 1200 soldiers.
In February 1944 Lazarowicz’s men organized an unsuccessful attack on a train carrying Hans Frank
Hans Frank
Hans Michael Frank was a German lawyer who worked for the Nazi party during the 1920s and 1930s and later became a high-ranking official in Nazi Germany...
. As a reprisal, the Germans shot 54 Poles, a monument commemorating this event is located by the rail track in Dębica.
After World War II
In late 1944, when the area of Dębica was captured by the Red ArmyRed Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
, the Soviets awarded Lazarowicz the Red Star Order, as a gesture of appreciation of his efforts. However, he refused to accept it and in February 1945 moved to Rzeszów where he became commander of the Rzeszow District of Wolnosc i Niezawislosc
Wolnosc i Niezawislosc
Zrzeszenie Wolność i Niezawisłość WiN was a Polish underground anti-communist organisation founded on September 2, 1945 and active to 1952....
, an anti-communist Polish underground organization. Later on, Lazarowicz moved to Wrocław, organizing the WiN in these parts. In December 1946 he became deputy of Łukasz Ciepliński.
Arrest and execution
Lazarowicz was arrested by the Urząd Bezpieczeństwa (Polish secret policeSecret police
Secret police are a police agency which operates in secrecy and beyond the law to protect the political power of an individual dictator or an authoritarian political regime....
) in Żnin
Żnin
Żnin is a small town in Poland with a population of 14,558 . It is in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship and is the capital of Żnin County. The town is situated in the historic land of Pałuki and the Gniezno Lake Area on the river Gąsawka.-Etymology:The name originates from the Polish word...
on December 5, 1947. After a brutal investigation, he was transported to Warsaw and placed in the Mokotów Prison
Mokotów Prison
Mokotów Prison is a prison in Warsaw's borough of Mokotów, Poland, located at Rakowiecka 37 street. It was built by the Russians in the final years of the foreign Partitions of Poland...
. In October 1950, he was sentenced to death. His execution took place on March 1, 1951.
Aftermath
For fifty years, Lazarowicz’s story was censored out from all publications by the Soviet imposed Communist government of the People's Republic of PolandPeople's Republic of Poland
The People's Republic of Poland was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1990. Although the Soviet Union took control of the country immediately after the liberation from Nazi Germany in 1944, the name of the state was not changed until eight years later...
. In 1992, after the collapse of the Communist system, the Military Court of the Warsaw District issued a decree which voided the 1951 sentence
Rehabilitation (Soviet)
Rehabilitation in the context of the former Soviet Union, and the Post-Soviet states, was the restoration of a person who was criminally prosecuted without due basis, to the state of acquittal...
. A memorial plaque
Memorial Plaque
The Memorial Plaque was issued after the First World War to the next-of-kin of all British and Empire service personnel who were killed as a result of the war....
commemorating Lazarowicz can be found on the school in Gumniska
Gumniska
Gumniska may refer to the following places in Poland:*Gumniska, a district of Tarnów*Gumniska, Subcarpathian Voivodeship *Gumniska, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship...
, also since 1993 there has been a street named after him in Dębica
Debica
Dębica is a town in southeastern Poland with 46,693 inhabitants, as of 2 June 2009. It is the capital of Dębica County. Since 1999 it has been situated in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship; it had previously been in the Tarnów Voivodeship .-Area:...
.